The invention relates to a variant of the lever-type corkscrew, also known as a wine-waiter""s corkscrew.
In the conventional wine-waiter""s corkscrew 10 shown in FIG. 1, there is a lever element 12 having a pivotally attached fulcrum element 14 at one end thereof, and a pivotally attached corkscrew wire 16 in the center of the lever element spaced from the fulcrum element. A knife 20 or other instrument may conveniently be attached to the opposite end of the lever.
In operation, the corkscrew wire 16 is inserted into the cork, and a hook-shaped lip 18 of fulcrum element 14 is secured onto the lip of a bottle. The user then lifts lever 12 while twisting the bottle to remove the cork.
These lever corkscrews thus base their operation on the movement of a lever in which the fulcrum situated at one of its ends co-operates with the end of the neck of a bottle, in which the resistance to be overcome is situated in the central zone and is constituted by the cork to be extracted, and in which the force applied to the other end of the lever is exerted by the hand of the user.
Although in very widespread use, such corkscrews nevertheless suffer from the drawback of not being capable of extracting the cork in a single operation because of the length of the cork and because of the limited stroke of the corkscrew lever, which often makes it necessary to restart the operation by screwing the corkscrew wire more deeply into the cork and repeating the extraction movement. The result is wasted motion, as well as splitting or breaking the cork.
Moreover, the distance between the corkscrew wire and the fulcrum must be much greater than the radius of the bottle, to permit there to be sufficient space to insert one""s hand between the lever and the opposite side of the bottle. This results in the cork being extracted at an angle, rather than vertically out of the bottle, which contributes to damage to the cork.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to remedy these drawbacks, in particular by reducing the traction force, as well as to place the corkscrew wire closer to the fulcrum and enable the cork to be lifted more vertically out of the bottle.
To achieve these and other objects, the invention is directed to a modification of the lever corkscrew and in particular to the fulcrum element which bears against the rim of the neck of a bottle, which modification is specially designed to enable a cork which closes a bottle to be extracted quickly, smoothly, and completely with a minimum of effort.
The invention further relates to a corkscrew having a fulcrum element fitted with a limited number of drop-shaped notches, thereby enabling longer corks to be extracted without the necessity of reinsertion of the corkscrew wire further into the cork, since the stroke of the corkscrew wire can be increased by using the second or the third fulcrum.
According to the invention, the lever type corkscrew fitted with the slotted and multiple-notched fulcrum element and a hinged corkscrew wire is remarkable in that it has notches situated at a plurality of levels on the fulcrum element, thereby enabling the pin of the actuating lever to be placed at different levels so as to make it possible to obtain a greater lifting margin for extracting the cork and also obtain movement of the corkscrew wire that is more vertical.
In prior art corkscrews, the fulcrum element which is placed on the rim of the neck of the bottle can be used only at the beginning of the rotary movement of the lever arm to which it is attached by a pin; according to the invention however, the fulcrum element can slide freely vertically, thereby changing the height at which it acts so as to enable longer corks to be extracted.